


Baby It's Late And I'm Confused

by SeventhStrife



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Doubt, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jake's Mouth, Pre-Relationship, Self Confidence Issues, Sherry Makes Jake Feel Too Old For This Shit, Vague Mission is Vague, self-injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 18:37:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9084802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeventhStrife/pseuds/SeventhStrife
Summary: Loosely inspired by this prompt at otpisms:
 
  Imagine Person A dislocating their knee during a (very) early morning workout, waking a very sleepy confused Person B up with screams of pain. Hospital angst/fluffiness and comfort ensues. 

Sherry is determined to handle her problems herself.





	

Jake opened the door to their hotel room and all but fell through it.

“No one better need anything else.  _ Ever.” _

“Have we ever been so lucky?” Sherry shut the door behind them. 

Jake reached the couch and threw himself onto it, legs stretched out, arms hanging over the back, and his head reclined. His eyes were closed but he still scowled.

“Well, something’s gotta fucking change. I’m tired of these bullshit missions.”

Sherry didn’t feel much better and settled beside him, tucking her right hand away so that Jake couldn’t see it. She managed a wry smile.

“Saving the world lost its luster?”

Jake chuckled, the sound mirthless and exhausted. “I think after the five-hundredth B.O.W. everything’s lost its luster.” 

Sherry’s lips twitched and she sunk into the couch cushions with a sigh. “Can’t argue there.”

After weeks of constant gunfire, explosions, and the moans of the undead, the silence of their hotel room was blissful. They didn’t have to run for their lives, or hide out in some wet, dark cave, or fight off the latest megalomaniac’s strain of the virus. The world was safe once again, thanks to the efforts of the DSO and their newly minted member, Jake Muller.

Eventually, Jake groaned, rolling his head with a pop that made Sherry wince.

“God,” he muttered. He levered himself upright and glared at the carpet for a long moment, fatigue clear in his drooping eyelids and utter lethargy. He glanced at Sherry.

“Would be a damn shame to not use those beds. We’re paying for them.”

Sherry bobbed her head in a nod, struggled not to simply nod off. “You’re right.”

Jake heaved himself up with a grunt. When he straightened he glanced down at Sherry, eyebrow arched when she made no move to follow.

“I’ll sleep in a minute. I still have to report to headquarters.”

“Oh. Alright.” Jake walked away but paused in the dark hallway that led to the bedrooms. His gray eyes flicked to her and then away, staring straight ahead. “Goodnight, Supergirl.”

Sherry smiled, endeared as she always was when Jake struggled to show a real, sincere emotion. 

“Goodnight, Jake.”

Jake left without a glance back or a whisper of sound. Sherry waited until she heard the faint click of his door shutting before she sighed, shoulders slumping.

Carefully, she brought her right hand up from where she’d tucked it into her side, wincing from the sharp ache the slightest movement brought her.

Her pointer and index finger were at a slightly twisted, disturbing angle. Sherry hadn’t let herself really look at them, but now she paled. 

_ It’s going to hurt so bad. _

In the heat of battle, any injury that didn’t completely stop her from fighting was ruthlessly ignored and attended to later. She hadn’t even realized she’d broken her fingers until she’d raised her gun to a B.O.W. feet from her, pulled the trigger, and found she couldn’t when pain exploded in the digits.

She’d fallen back a step with a cry, blinking tears back, and Jake had heard her.

_ “What’s going on Sherry?”  _ he’d called.

_ “It’s nothing.”  _ And she’d simply ducked under the next wild swing and switched gun hands. 

From there it was the usual overwhelming odds and life-or-death battles that all their missions seemed to disintegrate into. But when they’d finally wrapped things up and been promised a bit of peace for the night, Sherry had taken one look at Jake, seen his exhaustion, and decided not to bother him with this.

It was Sherry’s problem and nothing she hadn’t dealt with before. Jake did so much for her, and he always fought so hard, she would feel to guilty to burden him with something so minor. And it was rare for Jake to so much as get winded in battle; he had to be feeling a hundred times worse than her.

Sherry looked at her poor, twisted fingers. With her accelerated healing and her ability to attend to her injury right away, they’d healed improperly. Sherry knew what she had to do and she took a deep steadying breath.

_ ‘It’ll be over in a second.’ _

Steeling herself and grateful they were at least bent at the same angle, Sherry grasped her digits firmly, biting her lower lip.

_ ‘One. Two. Three!’ _

Sherry yanked with all her strength and broke her fingers. A small sound escaped her, the beginnings of a scream, but she smothered it ruthlessly, hunching over her hand where she held it cradled to her chest. 

Waves of pain nearly overwhelmed her and she squeezed her eyes shut against the burn, giving a shuddering, shaky heave of breath.

_ “Hah... _ I’m okay,” she whispered, “I’m okay…”

“Sherry? What the  _ hell?” _

Dismay shot through her, but most of her energy was focused on getting through the initial pain.

“H-hey, Jake,” she breathed shakily, blinking rapidly. She felt a firm, warm grip on her shoulders and met Jake’s wide eyes. She gave a shaky smile.

“Meant to be quieter.”

Jake glared at her viciously but his hands were gentle as he pushed her back and pulled her arm out into the light.

“Sherry, I swear to  _ God…”  _ Visibly swallowing his next words, Jake looked at her fingers, held them lightly in his palm. They were swollen, a bright, angry red.

“It-it’s fine,” Sherry said. “They just have to set now.” 

“Stop talking.” Jake’s voice was hard as steel, inflectionless, and Sherry winced. Yep. He was mad.

Without another word Jake stood and went to the entranceway, where he’d slung their meager packs the moment he’d opened the door. They were both deathly silent as he rummaged through the bags and Sherry used the small window free of Jake’s glare to take a deep breath and force away the last of the tears.

She’d endured so much worse, but broken bones  _ always  _ got her.

“Here.” Jake was back, crouched on his knees before her. He held out his hand, demanding Sherry’s compliance.

Sherry surrendered her hand and placed it in Jake’s. She glanced at him surreptitiously through her lashes, but he was completely focused on her injury. His mouth was set in a firm line, but even though he was angry, there was no denying how attractive a look determined was on him. If he weren’t mad at her, he would probably argue that he looked his most attractive on his bike, shades on and ready to race. 

Sherry sank her teeth into her lip to keep from smiling; she had a feeling it wouldn’t be appreciated right now.

Neither spoke as he splinted her fingers, a rough-looking but efficient job. Life as a mercenary surely taught him necessary first aid, seldom as the need may have been.

“There.” Jake stood and walked away, clearing up the leftover bandage. Sherry held her fingers close to her face, was able to move them minutely but couldn't bend them at all. It was a good job, if not a little tight.

Jake’s back was to her as he knelt and put away his supplies. Sherry’s eyes skated over the back of his shaved head, the skin of his neck and down over tense, broad shoulders, where he always carried his stress.

Into the silence, very quietly, she said, “Thank you, Jake.”

A pause, and then Jake twisted to watch her in a sharp, sudden movement. His eyes weren’t quite glaring, but he looked deathly serious.

Unsure what to do, Sherry settled for projecting as much honest appreciation as she could. 

A small eternity of relentless eye contact passed before Jake broke it with a heavy sigh. He heaved himself up and met Sherry on the couch where he collapsed into it again, somehow even wearier than before. 

He tipped his head back as Sherry watched him cautiously and rubbed a hand over his face. 

“You’ve got to stop doing this,” Jake said firmly. Sherry’s eyebrows drew together.

“I can’t help getting hurt, Jake.”

“No, I mean  _ this.”  _ Jake made a jerky frustrated motion at Sherry’s freshly-splinted fingers. “Hiding your injuries, Sherry. It really pisses me off. And it’s stupid.” Jake looked at her now, gray eyes like flint. “Do you even trust me?”

“With my life,” Sherry said immediately. The conviction in her voice made Jake freeze. His mouth opened once, closed. He looked away quickly, a habit of his when emotions between them got too real that made Sherry’s chest constrict with the oddest mixture of amusement and sorrow. 

He was quiet for a moment, shaking his head ruefully. “You’re something else,” he mumbled. He glanced back up. “But if that’s true,  _ prove  _ it. We’re supposed to be partners, Sherry.”

Discomfort made Sherry shift uneasily, looking aside. “It really wasn’t a big deal. And I didn’t want to bother you with it…”

Jake honest-to-God  _ growled.  _ It made Sherry’s heart leap in her chest, and she struggled to make herself understood. Her mind flashed back to what felt like a lifetime ago, fisting handfuls of snow as she screamed, Jake a wary few steps away, eyes for the first time ever showing  _ fear  _ instead of boredom or sarcasm.

“Back in Edonia, when our plane crashed…” Sherry’s words dry up in her mouth, but now she has Jake’s full attention. 

It’s just...this is something that’s stayed with her for a while and airing out her misgivings isn’t exactly something she just  _ does.  _

“Hey.” Jake scoots closer, nudges her shoulder. “Don’t stop now, Supergirl.”

Nervous, Sherry runs her hands lightly over Jake’s handiwork, running the pad of her thumb over the rough bandage.

“...When you pulled that shrapnel out of me...you...I could tell it bothered you. What I could do. How my body heals itself. And I get it, I do. It grosses a lot of people out. I…” Sherry fell silent, didn’t want to admit that she couldn’t bear to see Jake looking at her like that again. It felt like a weakness to say so, and she’d already left herself vulnerable enough.

“Sherry.” Jake’s voice was hard enough to make her wince. She didn’t look up until she felt Jake’s hand rest over hers, gentle enough to not hurt, firm enough to feel the heat of his skin. Sherry met his eyes warily.

Jake seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say, starting to speak and then cutting himself off.

“Look, you’ve got the wrong idea, all right?  _ Nothing  _ you do could gross me out. Not someone in my line of work. You just caught me off guard with that, that’s all. And I’m damned glad you can do it in the first place. One less thing for me to worry about.”

Jake’s voice was gruff, but his devil-may-care attitude fell a little short when coupled with the sincerity in his eyes. Happiness bubbled up within her, spreading warmth to the tips of her fingers.

“So...it doesn’t bother you?”

Jake shook his head. “No. It really doesn’t.”

“Oh.” Sherry couldn’t help the pleased, relieved smile that stretched her lips. “Okay.”

Jake’s eyes widened and then he abruptly removed his hand and stood. He cleared his throat, looking everywhere but her. There seemed to be a bit more color in his cheeks than before.

“Okay, yeah, well,” he rolled his shoulders. “Glad that’s straightened out. We good here?”

Sherry rose as well and nodded, still smiling. “We’re good.” 

Jake’s eyes darted to hers and immediately away again. His cheeks darkened.

“Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say? I love writing Sherry in pain, I love Jake wishing he had hair so he could pull it out. Eventually, I'll write them in a relationship, but they're about the only couple I love pre _and_ post-relationship. Thanks for reading/commenting/kudoing!
> 
> Title is from the song [Where Did I Go?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meP1neJrguw)


End file.
